SPAIN (Daily Point) — A French couple has been apprehended in Spain for allegedly planning to “sacrifice” their five-year-old son, whom they believed to be “possessed,” as revealed by Spanish authorities on Saturday.
The arrest took place on December 21 in the southern Spanish port of Algeciras, where the family was preparing to board a ferry to the Moroccan city of Tangiers, according to AFP.
In a statement, the Guardia Civil police force disclosed that they had detained a “couple of French origin” who had the intention of “murdering their five-year-old son in the Sahara, believing him to be possessed.”
Both parents were reported to have “psychiatric problems” and were the subjects of a European arrest warrant for the abduction of a minor.
A Spanish judge has ordered the couple into custody, while the child, found to be in good health, has been placed in a minors’ reception center before being returned to France.
Instances of children being trafficked for sacrificial purposes in other countries have resurfaced more than a decade after being prevalent in 2012 and the preceding years. A leaked 10-month study by Scotland Yard in 2012 revealed that boys from Africa were being brought to London churches for human sacrifices in rituals conducted by fundamentalist Christian sects. These sects believed that the death of “unblemished” male children, often trafficked for as little as £10 from cities like Kinshasa, was necessary for powerful spells.
The report also cited cases of African children being tortured and killed after being labeled as “witches” by church pastors. The study was commissioned in the aftermath of the death of Victoria Climbié, who was starved and fatally beaten after being deemed possessed by the devil.
The Metropolitan Police’s study aimed to establish an “open dialogue” with African and Asian communities in Newham and Hackney, uncovering instances of children being murdered due to beliefs that they were possessed by evil spirits, as shared by African community leaders in discussions with law enforcement officers.
